Sometimes there is a special corner in a home, perhaps by a large window, where a very special object is needed. And The Phillips Collection has just the thing. I have been longing to use one of these incredible pieces in a client's home for a while now, looking and waiting for the right large empty corner by a window.
All of the pieces I show below are at least 6 feet tall with some, like the large cast stone circles, topping out at a whopping 8 feet! Made from a variety of materials, these statement sculptures would add a breathtaking element to any space.
Check Mate Sculptures in white, black, and gray
Colossal Charcoal Cast Stone Sculpture with Colossal Double Hole Cast Stone Sculpture
Colossal Charcoal Cast Stone Sculpture
Colossal Women Sculptures
Large Plinth Sculptures
Stacked Wood Floor Sculpture Set
Black Wood Abstract Sculptures
I have trade access to all of these dramatic art objects, and more from The Phillips Collection. If you see something you like, give me a call!
Since we have spent the last many installations of our ongoing History of Furniture series in the past, let's spend a bit of time in the 21st century. Now, arguably, something that is from our immediate time period might not be part of history as time moves on, but the Abyss table by Swiss-born and Paris-based designer Mattia Bonetti is part of a long line of furniture that is also rightfully considered a sculpture or a piece of art (see my previous post about the Lalanne sheep here, and see the work of the late Wendell Castle whom we will visit in a future installment).
Bonetti starts all of his pieces completely conceptually, with a colored pencil sketch.
Only if a client expresses interest in a piece does he then embark upon the time-consuming and costly process of realizing his vision. Bonetti has worked with the same fabricators and craftsmen for decades and relies on them to transform his sketches into actual, real-life objects. Sometimes the team says that a certain object cannot be built the way Bonetti has imagined it. But sometimes, as is the case with the delightful Abyss table, an idea springs forth and manifests in the world.
Bonetti describes the vision. "The main idea was to make a piece of sculpture. I was imagining something telluric, from an abyss under the surface of the sea or in a very deep cave. Trees, corals, bubbling volcanoes—all these shapes together become a table, et voilà!"
Because it can be made to be completely flat, sheet rolled steel was used for the table top. But the table base was cast in bronze and gilded with white gold leaf and colored transparent varnishes. In 2004, the table was issued in an initial run of eight, and debuted at the David Gill Gallery in London. The original pink and green colorway has been joined by orange and gold, and two different shades of blue which seems fitting for a table with an underwater theme.
Because of its price ($300,00 roughly) and weight (it tips the scale at a whopping 838 pounds) one sees it in the homes of art collectors and gallerists.
The original commission came from collector George Lindemann who has moved his Abyss table from a previous home (first photo below) to a new home on Miami Beach (second photo below). (The whimsical, Op-Art-style Louis XVI chairs were designed by Bonetti as well!)
Parisian gallerist Pierre Passebone has one in his home...
...as does David Gill. Here it is in the vacation home he and his partner, interior designer Francis Sultana, share on the island of Malta.
The work of Mattia Bonetti is included in numerous public collections, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
There are many items that are icons or legends in terms of interior design: Pedro Friedeberg's Hand Chair is one, along with the Thonet Chair, the Fornasetti etching of opera singer Lina Cavalieri’s face, and a host of others...but one of the most whimsical and inventive iconic design items is the Lalanne Sheep, created in 1965 by French sculptor François-Xavier Lalanne for the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in Paris.
Although they are now known as the Moutons de Laine, François-Xavier’s bronze sheep sculptures were presented at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture with the title Pour Polytheme, a reference to a passage in Homer’s Odyssey which recounts how Ulysses and his comrades blind the cyclops Polyphemus, and escape from his cave by clinging to the bellies of his giant sheep. Lalanne's work is highly sculptural, owing a debt to Surrealism in its whimsy, and highly functional. His moutons serve as either seats or foot stools! Below you can see Lalanne with his wife Claude, also a sculptress whose surreal whimsical work focuses on the botanical instead of the animal world, lounging on a flock. Claude has been quoted as saying, playfully, "They are not furniture, they are not sculpture--call them 'Lalannes.'"
The realistic cast bronze sheep are covered in sheep skin but Lalanne created outdoor versions where the "wool" is cream colored stone epoxy.
Yves Saint-Laurent was an early patron of Lalanne and collected a flock of sheep to populate his library in the home he shared with his partner Pierre Bergé.
Other designers have collected the sheep over the years. Valentino invested in a flock...
...and a Lalanne sheep can be spotted in this image of Marc Jacobs' home.
If you keep your eyes peeled, you can spot them grazing peacefully in so many homes in shelter magazines.
In case you're wondering, a flock of the outdoor Lalanne sheep went for a record $7.5 million at a Christie's auction in 2011...and original sheep go for just under a million. Just sayin'.
A classic bust can be an unexpected, strong design element whether in a traditional or contemporary room! As a three dimensional art object in a space, it can break up the monotony of two dimensional art. Busts can bring interest, color, and texture...
